Burial vault



Aug-24,1937. J. R. KIRBY, 2,090,844

BURIAL VAULT Filed June 17, 1935 lllllllllll W .-nn

Il l 'HHH Immun Patented Aug. 24, 1937 UNi'l'E S'ET ATET FFIC

2 Claims.

This invention relates to burial vaults, and more particularly to aburial vault constructed of concrete or similar material designed toprevent circulation of moisture laden air in the interior 5 of the vaulttending to impair the contents of the vault.

The human body is composed of about eighty percent water and after acorpse has been disinterred the body has been found to have produced aquantity of water in the bottom of the vault due to deterioration of thebody. In localities having varying climatic conditions with wide changesin temperature, even though the casket is below the freeze line of theearth, the

change in outside temperature caused by varying weather conditions hasbeen found to affect the P air in the interior of the vault to such anextent that the water produced by the corpse tends to vaporize at highexterior temperatures and condense at lower exterior temperaturesthereby setting up a circulation of moisture laden vapors which quicklydeteriorates the casket and the corpse.

Various types of burial vaults have been constructed of concrete andprovisions made to prevent entrance of water into the vault and toenhance the preservation of a corpse contained in the vault. The problemof preventing deterioration of the interred corpse, however, fromcontact with moisture which ordinarily accumulates from deterioration ofthe body in the vault, has not, heretofore, been satisfactorily solved.

The principal objects of the present invention are, therefore, todecrease circulation of moisture laden air in the vault; to provide fortrapping moisture carried by such circulating air to further enhancepreservation of the corpse contained in the Vault; to provide a sealpreventing extraneous water from entering the casket chamber; and toinsulate the casket chamber for maintaining a more constant temperaturein said chamber.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I haveprovided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which areillustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a burial vault constructed in accordancewith the present invention, parts of walls thereof being broken away tobetter illustrate the construction.

Fig. 2 is a Vertical cross section of the burial vault on the line 2 2,Fig. 1, showing insulating I air spaces and moisture absorbent mediums.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section through the v burial vault on the line 33, Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail section showing the upper sealingelements of the burial vault.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional View of a modified form of thesecondary bottom having a peripheral downturned flange for its support-5 ing legs.

Referring more in detail to the drawing:

I designates a burial vault constructed of waterproof concrete embeddedin the earth 2 and comprising a bottom or floor 3, end walls 4, and l0side walls 5 and 6.

The outer faces of the side and end Walls of the burial vault aregradually tapered upwardly and outwardly from a point 'I midway of theirheight and culminate in a thick heavy wall at the freeze 10 line 8 ofthe earth in order to provide an increased concrete resistance above thefreeze line, to reduce penetration of ground water, and to additionallyinsulate the interior of the vault from exterior temperature changes.The outer upper corners of the side and end Walls are offset to providea series of peripheral ledges or steps 9 continuing around the edges ofthe walls which terminate in an upwardly extending ange I0 adapted toreceive a main outer cover I I. 2-

The cover II is also constructed of concrete and is curved to form aconcavo-convex arch portion having downwardly extending flange portionsI2, the lower inside edges of which are offset, as at I3 and I4, to seatupon the ledges 9 30 and the ilange II) of the side and end walls toprovide a securely fitting joint with the cover when the latter isrested thereon.

Asphalt, or other waterproof adhesive I5 may be applied at the jointbetween the cover and 35 walls to prevent entrance of moisture to theinterior of the structure.

The exposed upper surface I 6 of the cover II may be nished by polishingif desired to provide an attractive appearance and is further provided40 with an integral monumental portion I'I bevelled at its edges, as atI8, and extending upwardly and rearwardly at an angle to thelongitudinal base line of the cover I I in such a manner that aninscription surface I9, suitable for bearing epi- 45 taphs, names,dates, or other identifying indicia, is presented to full View.

It is desirable to maintain the chamber 20 formed by the bottom andwalls of the vault at an even temperature, as well as to seal it against50 any extraneous moisture which might seep into the cover. I,therefore, provide the interior faces of the side and end Walls with aninset groove 2l forming a continuous peripheral edge 22 around the wallsfor receiving a porous insulat- 55 bottom of the vault.

ing plate 23 of gypsum or like hygroscopic material which divides thechamber into a casket compartment 24 and an insulating dead air spaceThe plate 23 is slightly curved to form an arched roof having downturnedflanges 26 extending at an angle to the vertical walls of the Vault torest securely on the ledge 22 and yet leave a space 2l between the wallsand the flanges for a layer of cement for sealing the plate into thevault.

In order to further enhance the sealing and insulating of the casketcompartment 24, a layer 28 of cement may be poured over the entire plate23 to form a waterproof coating over the porous plate and prevent anywater in the space 25 under the cover from seeping into the casketcompartment.

The plate 23 being of porous material absorbs any water vapor in the airin the casket compartment and will retain it until the exteriortemperatures fall suiiiciently for the effect to penetrate the dead airspace and cement seal to cause the moisture to fall or return to thechamber 24 in the circulation of the air.

With the vault constructed as above described, the temperatures in thecasket compartment 24 are maintained as nearly constant as is possible,but there will still be sufficient change to cause evaporation andcondensation of the water which has been produced by the disintegrationof the body. The plate 23 will absorb a portion of the vapor in the air,but there will still be a quantity of water on the bottom of the vaultto replace the moisture in the air.

In order to trap the water in the vault, I provide the bottom 3 withintegral transverse blocks 29 for supporting a secondary bottom or floor30 of porous moisture absorbent material such as gypsum or likehygroscopic material. The secondary floor 33 is of the same shape as thebottom of the vault, the edge 3l thereof closely engaging the side andend wall of the vault. The floor, being porous, will readily allow allwater to pass through into the space 32 and lie on the The insulatingquality of the material will also tend to prevent the temperatures inthe casket compartment 24 from effecting any evaporation of the water onthe bottom of the vault and as the upper plate will absorb the vapor inthe air, the casket space will remain dry.

To further trap the Water and effect its retention below the secondaryfloor, the bottom of the vault is coated with a thin layer of suitablecolloidal or gelatinous material 33, such as aqua gel, or likehygroscopic material, for absorbing and holding the moisture as itaccumulates on the bottom 3 of the vault, the space 32 being ofsufficient height to allow for any expansion of the material due toabsorption of the water.

Since it is impossible for the water to evaporate out of the colloidalmaterial 33 at the temperatures possible below the insulating secondaryfloor 3K2, the water is definitely trapped and the changes intemperature in the vault will eifect circulation of only dry air withinthe casket compartment.

I prefer to support the casket (not shown) in slightly elevated positionrelative to the secondary floor 39. The blocks 29 are therefore providedwith upwardly extending integral projections 34 which extend throughopenings 35 in the secondary floor and form rests for the casket,thereby keeping the casket out of any moisture that might be present onthe oor 30.

'I'he modified form of secondary floor shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing issupported on downwardly extending flanges 36 which engage the bottom 3of the vault to maintain a space 31 for the colloidal material 38 in thebottom of the vault. The projections 39 for supporting the lowered intothe container to rest on the projections 34. The upper gypsum plate 23is then seated on the ledges 22 and a layer 28 of concrete may, ifdesired, be plastered over the top of the plate 23 to seal the enclosureagainst penetration of inosture and air. Sealing material I5 is thencoated over the peripheral ledges 9 and the main cover Il nally placedover the container and seated on the ledges 9 and flange l0 to completethe structure.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A burial vault including a container having a bottom provided withtransverse blocks having upwardly extending projections for supporting acasket, side and end Walls for the container having a series of offsetson the outer surface thereof to provide an upwardly extending tongue, anabsorbent gypsum roof supported on the inner faces of the walls, aconcrete sealing coating above the roof and within the walls of thecontainer, a cover having a downwardly extending flange and a series ofoifsets for seating on the tongue and offsets of the walls to seal thevault and whereby a dead air space is provided between the sealing coatand cover, and adhesive material between the walls and cover forhermetically sealing the vault.

2. A burial vault including top, bottom, end and side walls forming aclosed chamber, a porous partition extending substantially horizontallyand closely engaging the side and end walls to divide said chamber intoan upper casket compartment and a lower liquid collecting compartment,casket supports carried on the bottom wall and having portions tosupport said partition and having portions extending throughthepartition to support a casket in slightly spaced relation with thepartition, and a hygroscopic material in the liquid collectingcompartment for absorbing liquid drained from the casket compartmentthrough said porous partition.

JAMES R. KIRBY.

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